Katyushas Rain on Northern Israel; Residents Stuck in Shelters

While IDF ground forces engage Hizbullah terrorists in southern Lebanon, with one soldier seriously wounded today, Hizbullah continues to fire Katyusha rockets at northern Israel; no one was hurt.

By Hillel Fendel

First Publish: 7/20/2006, 10:50 AM / Last Update: 7/20/2006, 11:45 AM

Some 20 rockets were fired at Kiryat Shmona, Nahariya, Tiberias and elsewhere Thursday morning; no damage was reported. Five of the rockets fell near a small community called Yir'on, not far from Avivim and the border (the site of yesterday's deadly battle), and another one hit Machmanim, near Carmiel in the western Galilee. Two siblings, age 3 and 7, were killed in a Katyusha attack in the Arab-Israeli city of Nazareth Wednesday afternoon.

The IDF continues to attack targets in Lebanon, including two dozen missile launching areas and access roads.

Following yesterday's fierce fighting just north of the Israeli-Lebanese border, in which two soldiers were killed and four were seriously wounded while destroying an important Hizbullah outpost in Marun A-Ras, more fighting took place elsewhere in Lebanon overnight. Four soldiers were wounded, including one seriously, while two terrorists have been reported killed.

The two fallen soldiers of the elite combat unit are: First-Sgt. Yotam Gilboa, 21, of Kibbutz Maoz Chaim in the Jordan Valley, and First-Sgt. Yonatan Hadasi, 21, of Merhavya, near Afula.

Kassams in the South
Five Kassam rockets were fired at Sderot and other western Negev areas today, in two separate waves. Work has begun on placing double-layer metal roofs on 13 elementary schools in Sderot, and work will begin next week on the 105 kindergartens in the region. Another 11 junior and high schools must also be reinforced. The total cost of the project: 55 million shekels ($12.3 million).

The IDF offensive in Gaza, south of El-Bureij, continues, with nearly 20 terrorists killed today and 60 wounded. Among those killed were two members of a Kassam-launching cell on their way to an attack.

In Shechem, around noon, an IDF searching for terrorists came under attack - rocks and even gunfire - from civilians.